Washington vs. Montana -- preview box and game thread

FINAL: Washington 83, Montana 79 -- After a frantic final sequence in which Montana's Chris Kemp missed a free throw that could have tied the game with 11.2 seconds left, the Huskies prevailed to move their record to 3-3. Andrews rebounded Chris Kemp's miss, then passed to Wilcox, who was fouled and made two free throws. Montana missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 on the other end, and UW hung on.

3:34, second half -- Huskies lead, 74-69, with Wilcox heading to the free-throw line. Expect a lot of trips to the line down the stretch. That favors the Huskies, who have made 17 of 23.

6:55, second half -- UW is now up 68-63, with Wilcox heating up. He's got a team-high 21 points, and has scored 15 of those in the second half.

11:53, second half -- UW pulled briefly into the lead for the first time at 54-53, but now trails 55-54 with Wilcox heading to the line for a 1-and-1.

15:52, second half -- Huskies have cut Montana's lead to 48-45, thanks to the offensive initiative of Williams-Goss, and some slightly better defense. Williams-Goss has 17 points and keeps finding ways to get to the rim. Montana has cooled to a 66.7-percent mark from the field.

HALFTIME -- A miserable defensive half for the Huskies ended with a Kareem Jamar 3-pointer, Montana's ninth of the half, and the Grizzlies take a 42-36 lead into the break. Gregory leads all scorers with 15 points on five 3-pointers, and Montana is shooting 71 percent from the field as a team -- 9-15 from 3, and 15-21 total, meaning the Grizzlies have yet to miss a 2-point shot. Williams-Goss leads UW with 11 points, and the Huskies are shooting 50 percent from the field and hold a 12-6 edge on the glass. No secret as to what they need to improve in the second half. Montana's 3-point shooting is the difference so far.

2:54, first half -- Montana is now shooting 76.5 percent from the field. Grizzlies lead 35-31, though Shawn Kemp is heading to the free throw line after the media timeout. Huskies simply giving up open looks on every possession.

7:49, first half -- Montana's lead is now 29-21 after Jordan Gregory made his fourth 3-pointer of the half, this one in transition after UW failed to get back down the floor.

10:49, first half -- The Huskies cut Montana's lead to 22-21 after a put-back bucket by Williams-Goss, though the Grizzlies are shooting a ridiculous 72.7 percent from the floor. UW is at 66.7. Not a lot of defense so far.

14:17, first half -- Montana is out to a 17-14 lead, thanks to the five 3-pointers the Grizzlies have made on seven attempts. Washington is 5-of-6 from the field, but the Huskies are defending the perimeter about as well as they did in last weekend's loss to Boston College -- not well.

Greetings from Hec Edmundson Pavilion, where the Washington Huskies basketball team will try to recover from its putrid showing in New York with a 6 p.m. game against the visiting Montana Grizzlies.

We'll update this post with pertinent information throughout the game.

Montana (1-2) at Washington (2-3)

6 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle

TV: Pac-12 Networks. Radio: 950-AM.

All-time series: Washington leads 42-9.

Probable starters

Statistics for 2013-14 unless otherwise noted

Montana

Player Pos Ht PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

Keron DeShields G 6-2 10.7 3.0 3.3 40.0 60.0

Brandon Gfeller G 6-4 8.7 2.0 0.3 64.3 0.0

Kareem Jamar G/F 6-5 22.0 8.0 6.0 52.4 56.0

Mike Weisner F 6-7 6.7 3.7 0.67 50.0 1.000

Eric Hutchison F 6-9 4.3 1.7 0.0 60.0 1.000

Washington

Player Pos Ht PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

Nigel Williams-Goss G 6-3 12.0 4.2 4.8 43.3 57.1

Andrew Andrews G 6-2 13.0 3.6 2.0 41.2 69.2

C.J. Wilcox G 6-5 23.0 4.4 2.6 46.8 85.3

Mike Anderson G 6-4 9.6 6.8 1.8 50.0 75.0

Perris Blackwell F 6-9 11.8 8.0 0.75 45.9 72.2

Scouting report: The Huskies are trying to rebound after a disappointing trip to New York, where they were exposed defensively and on the glass in losses to Indiana and Boston College. And UW announced Monday that junior guard Hikeem Stewart will transfer from the program, leaving the Huskies with nine healthy scholarship players as they prepare for the Grizzlies. Montana isn’t as big as Indiana, but does shoot 50 percent from the floor and 39.7 percent from 3-point range, meaning the Huskies must rotate to shooters considerably better than they did while allowing Boston College to make 11-of-25 from outside.

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About Christian Caple

A proud native of Longview, Wash., Christian Caple joins The News Tribune after covering Washington State football and men's basketball for two years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane (though he lived in Pullman). He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Washington, an avid NWAACC basketball fan, and is unsure how to proceed now that Breaking Bad is over.